Aimbridge Hospitality liked Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.’s new Aloft Hotels brand so much it jumped right in. Of the lifestyle brand’s first dozen or so properties — launched in 2008 — Aimbridge committed to four. Three years later, the company operates nine, with direct investment in seven.

“We liked the brand,” says David Johnson, Aimbridge president and chief executive officer. “We saw it and thought it was fresh.”

Aimbridge isn’t alone in its confidence in the brand. In just three years, the company has gone from zero to 50-plus, making it one of the fastest brand launches in hotel history.

Unlike many brands, Aloft was global from the start and continues to grow worldwide. In late October 2011, the company opened the 252-room Aloft London Excel. Hotels are scheduled to open in Costa Rica and Bogota, Colombia, by year’s end.

“It’s everything you need form a business-traveler perspective, but everything else you want from a personal-traveler perspective,” she says.

The company plans to hit 70 hotels on four continents and six countries in the next two years. Of the 27 in the brand’s current pipeline, 12 are slated for the fast-growing market in China.

“Aloft’s emphasis on high design combined with its tech-savvy features and social atmosphere all at an affordable price point translates globally and is attracting a growing group of loyal travelers,” says Brian McGuiness, senior vice president, specialty select brands for Starwood. “Aloft’s international expansion so early in the brand’s life cycle is unprecedented.”

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The brand’s success, says Simon Turner, president of global development for Starwood, “comes from rewriting the rules of our industry, from the unprecedented pace of new hotel openings to its complete reinvention of the select-service category.”

Paige Francis, vice president of global brand management for Aloft, Elements and Four Points, describes the new chain as “style at a steal” and talks about the democratization of design.

Hotel growth, those 50-plus in three years, shows this works. And, owner/operators like Aimbridge are pleased. “Anyone can introduce a new product,” says Johnson, “but few people have the power Starwood has in their reservations, frequent traveler program and more. We’ve been pleased with the ramp up, how the consumer sees the product and the support we see with Starwood.”

 “We wanted to create a brand that is keeping with consumer trends and lifestyle brands that are now offering style at a more affordable price point,” she says.

It’s happening in other product categories, why not hotel space? After all, if Target can adapt and sell high-end house wares by renowned designer Michael Graves or fashion by industry icon Missoni to a mass audience, why can’t a hotel company bring the same sensibility to the same demographic?

 “We really saw an opportunity and that’s how Aloft came to be,” says Francis.

The chain is so successful, she says, because the next generation of travelers is looking for something different. Going beyond design touches on Aloft’s social public spaces.

“Consumers are looking for a different kind of offering in the space,” she says. “They want a hotel with a great vibe.”

The w xyz bar and re:mix lounge anchor that vibrant public space, creating a place to socialize and hangout. “It’s space that invites people out of their rooms,” says Francis.

The hotel’s psychographic is a hip, youthful traveler, but not one restricted to age. “We describe our guest as the next generation of travelers. It could be a the 28-year-old who’s first in line for the newest iPhone or the 58-year-old with the same mindset and sensibility.”